Record and controversies

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Environmental record

Defense earmark

In 2007 Wicker obtained $6 million in earmarks for defense contractor Aurora Flight Science whose executives donated over $13,000 in 2006 to his campaign. Additionally, Aurora was represented by Wicker's former congressional chief of staff, John Keast. In April 2005 Aurora flew the congressman, Kearst, and another staffer on a private jet to a ribbon cutting of a manufacturing facility that opened in Wicker's Mississippi district one month after Aurora chief executive John Langford made his first contribution to Wicker.[2]

Kearst registered to represent Aurora days after leaving Wicker's office and joining the lobbying firm Cornerstone Government Affairs in 2006. Wicker submitted the earmark request less than two months after the one-year cooling off period during which Kearst was barred from lobbying Wicker on Aurora's behalf. A spokeswoman for Aurora said that another lobbyist at the firm, Dan Fleming, took the lead in helping to obtain the federal funding.[3]

Wicker said he saw no problem with earmarking money to Aurora. The junior senator said the money was meant to speed development of a new, unmanned aircraft that would fly for days at high altitudes, a military tool that would also created jobs in his home state. "The long and short of it is, Aurora is putting out a good product in return for these federal expenditures. it clearly passes any cost-benefit test," Wicker said. He also noted that he had been working with Aurora before Kearst left and that it is one of several companies that had donated money to him and benefited from defense appropriations when he was on the Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Defense. A spokesman for the Army command, John Cummings, said "It's a congressional add. It was not requested. It wasn't in the president's budget. Anything that comes in above that means it has not been requested by us."[4]

Bio

Background

Wicker was born on July 5, 1951 in Pontotoc, Mississippi. He attended Pontotoc High School where he served as a Congressional page for Congressman Jamie Whitten. Wicker received a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Journalism from Ole Miss in 1973. He also earned his J.D. from the University of Mississippi in 1975. Following his education, Wicker served in the U.S. Air Force from 1976-1980 and attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He served as an Air Force Reservist until 2004. From 1980 to 1982 Wicker worked for Trent Lott on the House Rules Committee before returning to Mississippi to be the Lee County public defender.

Congressional career

In 1994, DemocratJamie Whitten, who had represented the 1st District for 54 years, declined to seek re-election, and Wicker triumphed in the Republican primary. In the general election, Wicker defeated Fulton attorney Bill Wheeler, capturing 63 percent of the vote, making him the first Republican to represent the 1st District in over a century. The large victory margin was not surprising, since the 1st had been increasingly friendly to Republicans since the 1960s even though Democrats still have a substantial majority of registered voters. It has supported the official Democratic candidate for President only once since 1956.

In the subsequent five re-election campaigns, Wicker has cruised to re-election. Most recently, in 2004, he was reelected with 71 percent of the vote. He is currently a Deputy Majority Whip.

2006 elections

Senate appointment

Gov. Haley Barbour appointed Wicker as Senator Lott's successor on December 31, 2007. The appointment by Barbour on the last day of the year was to prevent the need for a special election. In the announcement, Barbour said that "Congressman Roger Wicker made an enormous difference as Mississippi sought unprecedented federal assistance after Hurricane Katrina. Senator Cochran rightly gets first credit for leading the fight for our state in the Senate, but Congressman Wicker was indispensable in our prevailing in the House." Wicker would still need to run for re-election in 2008.[5]

Special election

Barbour had set November 4 as the date for a special election to choose Lott's successor, but Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood filed a complaint that the governor has exceeded his constitutional authority. Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter ruled on January 15, 2008 in Hood's favor. Barbour said the final decision would be made by the Mississippi Supreme Court.[6]

Money in politics

This section contains links to – and feeds from – money in politics databases. <crpcontribdata>cid=N00003280&cycle=2006</crpcontribdata>

Links to more campaign contribution information for Roger Wicker
from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.

Committees: House Committee on Appropriations, House Committee on Appropriations/Subcommittee on Defense, House Committee on Appropriations/Subcommittee on Military Construction Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies

Congressional Career

First Elected to Current Office:
November 8, 1994

First Took Current Office:
December 31, 2007

Next Election:
November 4, 2014

Term Ends:

Freshman Member?
No

Previous Political Work?
Mississippi Senate, US House of Representatives